Thursday, 17 May 2012

3 tips to get that layout done!

It's Thursday and that means the weekend is in sight - yays! And it's a long weekend too - double yays!

But I digress. Today is about getting those pages and projects done and I have a couple of tips that might help with the most common roadblocks.

Problem 1: "There's something missing but I don't know what!"
Solution: Take a picture of your layout, upload it to your computer and have a look. Sometimes just looking through my camera view finder is enough for me to see that something isn't right. The smaller image size makes it easy to examine your whole page for balance and flow.

When I took a picture of this page, I could see right away that I needed more circles and I had to fix that title. Now I'm much happier with this page.

Problem 2: "I don't know what to journal."
Solution: Imagine what you would say to some one if you showed them the page without any journaling. This always helps me figure out my story. You don't need to write a lot - even one sentence can be just what a page needs to finish it off. Then make the time to write it down.

That's what I have to do with this page...

Problem 3: "I don't have enough room for my journaling."
Solution: Make your journaling a design element right from the start. It's that easy. You can even write it out before you get started to see how much space you need. Just leave space for your story and you will write it down. Most people can't leave a blank space on their page.

That's the problem with this page. I have a story I want to tell but I don't know where to put it. If I had made the journaling a part of the design I wouldn't have this problem. So, I'll either hide the journaling or pull the page apart and try again.

I hope these tips help you finish some your own "undone" projects. If you have any questions or any tips of your own to share, please leave a comment.

note: on Thursdays I blog about projects that aren't quite done.
Maybe they needed some journaling, or photos or both. I call them "the
Undones" and I have a box full of good intentions. In this series, I
pick a project, finish it and share the results. I'd love it if you
would play along and share a link to your newly finished project in the
comments.